Turkish film, “Zenne Dancer” or male “belly dancer” in English, has not only received 5 Golden Orange Awards at the International Antalya Film Festival, opened the first gay film festival in the Turkey, but it is the first feature film to depict gay honor killing in Turkey.

The film, which is out on general release in Turkey today, reveals a deep-rooted hysteria in relation to gay, lesbian and transgender persons throughout the country. The creators said that they hoped the film would raise awareness of the issue and force a discussion across Turkey about hate crimes that target gender, religion, sexual identity and ethnicity. Binay told CNN:

“Death and murder is still on the agenda of our country. We can’t get rid of this mentality… People need to tolerate each other. They need to understand that different identities can live next to each other without disturbing each other.”

The film comes at a time when the Turkish Constitution is being rewritten. Currently article 17 of the health regulations of the Turkish Armed Forces states that being gay is a “psychosexual deviance.” LGBT activists are lobbying the Turkish authorities to alter the specifics of the constitution to protect the rights of LGBTQ people.